With a Grain of Salt

Maria Meece
mm162214@ohio.edu

Media these days needs to be taken with skepticism. It is sad, but it is true. There are outside sources that mess with the media and cause people to not believe anything that the media says. According to Columbia Journalism Review, only 32% of Americans believe that the media is true. That is astounding! This is the lowest it has ever been in American history. Americans have a right for feeling this way. The media has failed this past election. Americans feel cheated. Americans want to trust what the media has to say because that is one of the only ways to consume news.

Why is it important to be transparent? 

Transparency is key. Truth really should be simple but unfortunately, America has people that have their own agenda and think it is okay to mess with the way news is consumed.

What does this show?

Honestly, this shows a huge fault in our system. If anyone can make a website and write whatever they want then post it and it can go national, then yes, why isn't everyone making fake news? It is so easy to fake the "truth." The American people will believe whatever is on their Facebook feed. Schools need to be teaching young Americans how to read needs and how to identify fake news. This could help immensely.

Why do we want the truth?

We want the truth because it is our right as Americans. According to the New York Times author, Catherine R. Squire's article, "Young Black People See the Double Standard," it is hard to trust an institution that ignores you. The media right now has one goal, and that is to make people trust them again. What is America without truthful news? Maybe that is normal...

Gallup Research Organization

This is a chart explaining how Americans trusting media has decreased over the past couple years. It has decreased drastically since the 1990s. It is hard to believe that Americans don't trust the media this much.

Truth is so important right now to the journalist. A journalist needs to gain the American people back on their side. Facebook was a place where fake news was posted more often than not. Maybe Facebook needs to get a more regulated system. At least with what news is posted on people's walls. This could help out with decreasing fake news and help journalist get back into Americans good favor.

The media needs to make some drastic moves in able to get the American back on their side. I don't think that will happen for a while. Especially while our president is posting whatever he wants to on his Twitter wall. Maybe that is a good thing, maybe it isn't. It is definitely not regulated news. Very truthful since it is coming from our President.

As many are saying about media, "long live the media, it is dead."

Maybe a new source of information will start to become something in America. New things are always made every day.